IPL 2021: Bhuvneshwar Kumar faces injury scare; leaves the field with a thigh strain
During their match on Wednesday, Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered a major scare as their premier fast-bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar walked off the field with a thigh strain. The pacer was playing in the match against Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on April 21.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled an excellent spell in the first innings of the match. He bowled a good first over, where he conceded only six runs. In the second over, he came back to take the wicket of Punjab captain and his Indian teammate KL Rahul. He bowled another over in the powerplay to finish the spell with figures of 1 for 16 from three overs.
After being expensive and wicketless in the previous match against Mumbai Indians, when he finished with 0/45 in four overs, this spell was a massive boost for the pacer and his team. Unfortunately, he left the field on Wednesday after his third over and didn’t return to bowl his fourth and final over.
The death overs were taken care of by Siddharth Kaul and Khaleel Ahmed, who did a good job for the Hyderabad team. Commentator Lisa Sthalekar informed on the air that Bhuvneshwar has actually suffered a thigh strain. This is a worrying sign for Sunrisers, who are already without T Natarajan. The left-arm seamer has been sidelined due to a niggle.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s history with injuries
Bhuvneshwar’s injury comes at the worst time possible for Sunrisers Hyderabad. The David Warner-led side has lost three matches so far in IPL 2021, but registered their first win of the tournament on Tuesday. Jonny Bairstow scored an unbeaten 63 to take the team over the line with nine wickets in hand.
Coming back to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Uttar Pradesh pacer has faced some nasty injuries so far in his career. He underwent sports hernia surgery early last year, which kept him out of the field for some time. The pacer made a comeback in the last season of the IPL but was once injured.
This time it was a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the entire season. After months, he returned to international cricket last month, when England and India played a limited-overs series.
